Page 214 of Light Leech

I didn’t know if she had wanted to hear something so plain and simple, but I went with it.

She held my hand, her angelic skin rubbed against the coarseness of my own.

She ran her face down my neck, kissing it as she moved, then rested her head on my shoulder. “Never leave me, okay?”

“What? Of course not, I would never…” I lifted her chin with my finger and waited on her to look into my eyes. “What is it?”

Much to my relief, there was only a hint of worry in her eyes. I couldn’t find sadness, though these were only my best estimates.

A moment of heavy silence passed between us as we watched each other.

“I…” She reached in for another kiss, savoring it. “I really like you. I… the world is such a mess of uncertainties and I want you to be a constant.”

I pulled her down to lay next to me on the mattress and continued to kiss her, trying all I could do to tell her with my wordless lips that I felt the same. Our kisses grew from a warm soft into burning passion.

I could deal with my grief later. Now was for her.

I ran my hand through her hair as I pulled back and whispered, “I love you Naoma.”

Epilogue

Charles Nichley stood on the pier, watching the deep red glow amidst the blue in the ocean beneath the night sky. He reminisced on the feeling of being cold. His body sensed the chill of the sea, but it was nothing more than a report, an algorithm’s description of what the world was like to a human.

He missed the small things the most, the mundane that made life what it was. He could have anything he wanted, had everything he wanted, save the minor senses he could not. Those and the certainty of victory for the tide.

Zhou had fallen and the Correction had gone silent.

The burning of anger was one of the few senses that remained in his android’s body. Although his brain consisted mostly of preserved tissue, the synthetic body made it much harder to feel the extent of many emotions. Rage was growing and becoming a common friend, but he wanted to know how triumph felt. He would reach for it until the end, then beyond.

He received a message.

Hilio: Still no sign of him, sir.

Charles: But we know he returned to Zingang after the moon and following flight, right?

Hilio: Correct, but he must have covered his tracks.

Charles: How is that possible? You said the cyborg girl didn’t return with him, right?

Hilio: That is correct, sir.

Charles: Then who the zeg is wiping his surveillance coverage?

Hilio: Perhaps another one of the group’s members is a tech savant like her.

Charles: Get Kim on it.

Hilio: Mister Kim Jong Il’s body is showing as terminated, sir.

Charles: Right. But Dokkaebi is in the system, right?

Hilio: That is correct, but the Correction database is showing as inaccessible.

Charles: Delightful. Do your thing then. You’re supposed to be good at this, aren’t you?

Hilio: With the proper clearance, yes.

Charles: Fine. Utilize anything you need. I want Deleon’s freaks dead as soon as possible.